Shelving support structure using slotted standards with metal brackets hooked into these standards is very well known. The conventional arrangement uses channel-shaped slotted standards which are mounted to walls with the channel webs facing outwardly, presenting the slots to the user for the insertion of the hooks of the brackets. Such structure is popular because it is easy to install and enables the brackets to be located at different levels which are capable of being changed from time to time.
This type of arrangement does not provide particularly attractive installations because the standards are exposed. Accordingly there have been structures which have hidden slotted standards, these being especially desired by commercial establishments which require shelving for the display of their merchandise but do not want the standards exposed.
This invention is concerned with a structure that enables the standards to be mounted to the interior studs of a wall of the so-called drywall construction, the arrangement resulting in vertical grooves that lead to the standards. The user inserts the brackets into the vertical grooves and manipulates them to cause their hooks to engage with the slots of the hidden standards.
Several different types of hidden standard structures are known. Most of these require special studs which causes the installations to be expensive. Other types use conventional studs and different methods of securing the standards in place.
This invention is primarily concerned with a type of structure which enables the use of conventional sheet metal studs in the wall. Such studs are channel shaped and provide for interior spacing within the wall between its wallboard coverings of 35/8 inches. Wallboard normally comes in thicknesses of 1/8 inch or 3/8 inch. The invention provides an adapter so that a slotted standard may be installed within the wall, held in place by the adapter and a pair of back-to-back conventional sheet metal studs. The adapter is arranged such that the wallboard can be screwed to the studs as in conventional installations but leaving a space between adjacent wallboard members to form the grooves for the insertion of the hooked brackets.
The adapter of the invention is formed from extruded aluminum shapes which are assembled during manufacture with the slotted standard in a novel structure and by a novel method.
The adapter and method of the invention comprise improvements over the prior art affording greater simplicity and economy of construction and by providing a type of structure in which the slotted standard is positively gripped within the housing of the adapter and can support substantial weight without danger of shifting.
Waverunek Pat. No. 3,730,477 proposes a bracket support unit for integral wall construction that is to be used for the same purpose as the adapter of the invention but the construction and manner of assembly of the wall unit give rise to certain disadvantages which are eliminated by the invention herein in an unobvious manner.
The bracket support unit of U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,477 utilizes an integral extruded aluminum member which has wings for overlying the stud flanges, a pair of forwardly extending entrance flanges to receive the hooked ends of brackets, a box-like housing to be interposed between the webs of the studs and flanges forming a slotted standard receiving channel. All of these are formed as a single member such that the slotted standard is in the form of a flat strip or bar of steel and must be slid into the receiving channel and staked in place.
In order to secure the steel bar forming the slotted standard in place in said structure of U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,477 the bar is notched along its edges before it is inserted into the standard receiving channel and after so assembling a staking tool or punch is struck against the front face of the support unit in the wings alongisde the entrance flanges. The intention is to cause anchoring projections of the aluminum extrusion to be pressed into the notches. Inasmuch as the notches are hidden when the steel slotted bar is inserted into its channel the staking or punching operation must be effected blindly. As a result the punched projections may not align perfectly, if at all, with the notches and the device has an inherent weakness which may not become apparent until a user places excessive weight on the brackets mounted to the faulty standard. If the standard slips the slots in the standard will not align laterally with the slots of other standards and the shelving cannot properly be mounted level thereon.
Another disadvantage of this kind of structure is that the punching operation to produce the notches requires a more complex die that the one for simply punching the slots of the slotted standard. In addition, the staking or punching operation needed to form the anchoring projections is slow because it is required to be done in a punch press in an intermittent procedure.
The invention herein eliminates the disadvantages described above and provides a simplier and more effective unit for enabling the hidden slotted standard to be mounted in a wall secured to the conventional studs of the wall.